RAF teddy bears beat the odds
A limited-edition RAF teddy bear, made exclusively to raise funds for the RAF Association, overcame floods and a global pandemic to arrive safely and ready for action, thanks to the efforts of Merrythought.
Just 250 ‘RAF Teddy Bears’ have been hand-crafted for the edition by specialist teddy bear creators, Merrythought and they are being sold to raise funds to help support the RAF community.
The Merrythought factory is based in Ironbridge, Shropshire. The town flooded twice in 2020 when the River Severn burst its banks – despite the area deploying Environment Agency portable flood defences. While the factory remained unaffected, some roads were impassable, making life more than a little difficult. Like so many organisations, the company has also battled through COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions.
One hundred of the individually-numbered bears, stoically unscathed by these difficulties, have now made it safely to the RAF Association’s headquarters in Leicester. They are all ready to be deployed to those in need of a good cuddle. The remaining bears have hunkered down at Merrythought HQ, poised to be called into action.
Each bear is created from pure mohair and has wool felt paws. It has a navy blue satin ribbon with the RAF logo on it and comes in a luxury RAF-branded cotton bag. Its creator is the only UK teddy and toy manufacturer to still make its products in England. Merrythought has been hand-making teddy bears since 1930. It has created limited edition ranges for Buckingham Palace, to commemorate the births of the most recent generation of royal princes and princesses, and for the London 2012 Olympics. The company also created Christopher Robin’s Edward “Pooh” Bear for the Goodbye Christopher Robin film.
The RAF Association is a membership organisation and registered charity that has been providing welfare support to the RAF family for over 90 years. The Association recognises that RAF personnel and their immediate families dedicate their lives to their country, and believes that such a sacrifice should not result in any form of suffering. Its initiatives provide practical, emotional and financial support to tackle loneliness, isolation, worry and poverty among all generations of RAF personnel and their immediate family members.
If you would like to give one of the exclusive bears a home, they are available from www.rafatrad.co.uk.
